Review of Beautiful Chaos

So I may have told you about my little book “overcommitment” about a month ago. Well, I’m nearing the end of my kid in the candy shop over-indulgence and am frequently going through my list without regard to what I’m reading next, but going by date. After reading several romances (reviews upcoming for review book tours), I thought, Beautiful Chaos was another romance. So imagine my surprise when Brady turned out to be a 17-year old walking into a bar….there’s no punchline. I then glanced at the blurb to see what I was reading.

Brady helps his “dad” with the family business, which means showing up at the bar, taking and giving envelopes that frequently contain hundreds or more dollars. On one occasion he leaves early before distributing all of the envelopes because he wants to see his favorite band in a once in a lifetime experience and ends up going to the man’s house and giving the envelope to the man’s presumed daughter, a beautiful red-head named Vivienne.

What follows is comedy with a tad of a treasure quest and romance and character exploration and fun.

I picked this book up late evening and finished it in a few hours. As Brady points out to Vivienne, they spend most of their time together in a car and so will the reader who is along on this eventful ride.

Beautiful Chaos is quirky and sweet and the characters are beautifully written. Brady is a nice, conscientious guy who discovers a lot in the short time that he and Vivienne spend together. He learns secrets about his parents and about himself.

Vivienne is earnest and appealing. The chef at the nursing home where she works informs Vivienne that the one quality to an enduring relationship is practicing “empathy” and she harnesses that for herself.

While Alex Tully might be a new writer, you couldn’t tell it from this novel. Her writing flows and once you’re swept up into the novel, nothing breaks the spell.

This YA novel has enough plot, character development, and quirky twists to appeal to most readers.